


One Spark

by soft_satan



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Explosions, Fire, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Hurt Evan "Buck" Buckley, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Whump, gas leak
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:28:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28827420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soft_satan/pseuds/soft_satan
Summary: Gas leaks were one of Eddie’s least favorite kinds of calls. They were slow and methodical, but absolutely terrifying. At any moment while they were clearing a building, something could go wrong. One spark could decide whether or not Eddie went home to Christopher at the end of his shift.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 30
Kudos: 394





	One Spark

Gas leaks were one of Eddie’s least favorite kinds of calls. They were slow and methodical, but absolutely terrifying. At any moment while they were clearing a building, something could go wrong. One spark could decide whether or not Eddie went home to Christopher at the end of his shift. It was unlikely for anything to happen as long as protocols were followed to the letter, but mistakes happened.

So when the 118 had been woken from their bunks before dawn to respond to a gas leak, Eddie was less than thrilled. It already hadn’t been an easy shift, and the team had just settled in for some rest when the alarm had sounded. The lack of sleep alone was enough to make Eddie miserable, but add to that what type of call it was and Eddie was more than ready for his shift to be over.

It was the downstairs tenant, a nurse, who had called 911 after waking up for her morning shift and immediately recognizing the beginning symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning. Buck and Eddie had been sent into the two units to locate the gas leak and ventilate, and that’s how Eddie found himself in the kitchen of the upstairs unit of the duplex, scanning the room with his gas monitor to locate any leaks.

“First floor is clear,” Buck called through the radio. “I couldn’t find the source of the leak.”

“Copy that,” came Bobby’s reply. “Diaz, report.”

“It’s definitely coming from up here, Cap,” Eddie replied, his meter alerting him to the source. “Looks like it’s behind the oven.”

A blinking red light in the corner of his eye caught his attention immediately. The coffee maker on the counter was just like his own, with a tiny digital display on the front. His had been a gift from his Abuela, who had been excited about the automatic start feature. All he had to do was set the time for a few minutes before his alarm, and it would click on by itself and have a pot of fresh, hot coffee waiting for him by the time he finally managed to drag himself out of bed. It was wonderful, and he used it every morning.

What wasn’t wonderful was that the one sitting on the counter in an apartment full of gas fumes had a blinking red light, indicating two things.

One, the power was still on in the apartment when it shouldn't have been.

And two, the timer was set and it was about to switch on.

“BUCK GET OUT! GET OUT NOW! EVERYBODY GET BACK!” Eddie screamed into his radio as he turned on his heel.

…

Maybe it was the urgency in Eddie’s voice, or maybe it was just the complete and absolute trust he had in Eddie, but whatever it was saved his life. When Buck heard Eddie’s warning come through the radio, he didn’t think, he just moved. He didn’t even consider all of his exit options, he just knew that he needed to get the hell out of there as quickly as he possibly could.

So he dove through the window he was standing next to.

The sound of glass shattering was drowned out by the roar of the explosion above him. Despite the lawn being grassy and the window he’d jumped out of being on the first floor, the ground was still solid. As soon as he made impact, landing on his side, he felt his shoulder pop. The explosion of pain that shot through his arm and chest made his head spin worse than the fall. Opening his eyes slowly, he saw two silhouettes running over to him, backlit by the flashing red lights of the ambulance and fire truck. Closing his eyes to stop the world from swaying back and forth, he tried to focus on his breathing. His shoulder was beginning to throb in time with his pounding heart. And then hands were on him, carefully turning him to lie on his back. When he opened his eyes again, Hen and Chimney were leaning over him with wide eyed concern. Hen was quick to remove his mask for him, and the early morning air was cool on his face. Their lips were moving, he knew they were talking to him, but he couldn’t make out a single word. All he could hear was a low rumble, as if he were under water. He squinted up at them in confusion, pointing to his ears and shaking his head.

“Can’t hear you!” If their winces were anything to go by, he spoke a bit too loudly, but he could barely hear his own voice. He sat up, clutching his left arm to keep it from moving, and that’s when he finally saw the duplex.

Flames danced out of the broken windows, black smoke billowing up into the darkness of the pre-dawn sky. He felt the color drain from his face as he looked around the front yard, the pounding in his heart and shoulder picking up pace. “Where’s Eddie? Is he okay?”

A hand on his right shoulder brought his attention back to Chim’s worried eyes. Shrugging his shoulders, the universal sign for I don’t know, Chimney shook his head. Pressure built behind his eyes and their faces started to blur.

“What do you mean you don’t know?” he demanded.

Hen opened her mouth to say something when suddenly they both tensed, Hen’s hand going to her radio as she leaned closer to it. He had no idea what was being said, everything was one monotone rumble, but there was a look of distress on both their faces as their gazes met. Buck looked between them questioningly, but before he could ask, Chimney was up and running faster than Buck had ever seen him.

Something inside Buck told him it had to do with Eddie. He started to get up and follow when Hen grabbed him, shaking her head. He watched Chim disappear around the side of the house, a few other people following right behind him, including a worry stricken Bobby. The panic filling Buck’s chest was all the strength he needed to shove Hen’s hands off him and move, stumbling to his feet as he took off after them. Every step made him feel like he was being stabbed in the shoulder, but he kept moving. When he rounded the corner into the backyard, he stopped so suddenly he almost lost his balance. Hen barely stopped before she plowed into him, but even if she had, Buck wouldn’t have felt a thing. At the moment, he didn’t even feel the pain of his dislocated shoulder anymore.

The sun was nearing the horizon, preparing to rise. The sky was gradually getting lighter above them, casting a blue glow around them. For Buck, however, every spec of color had drained out of the world. A biting chill circulated through his body as if his blood had turned to ice, making his face and hands suddenly go numb. He didn’t feel Hen’s hand on his uninjured shoulder, couldn’t hear what words of reassurance she was saying to him. At that moment his entire world was reduced to two people.

Eddie, eyes closed, lying on the grass among shards of glass that sparkled like glitter in the glow of flashlights and fire.

And Chimney, on his knees, one hand on Eddie’s chin and the other pinching his nose, delivering rescue breaths.

Eddie wasn’t breathing. Buck's mind screamed it louder than any explosion. Eddie wasn’t breathing.

The second Eddie coughed and opened his eyes, his chest expanding as he sucked in a breath, suddenly Buck could feel everything. Tears that were cascading down his face, the wild thumping of his heart against his chest, Hen's warm hand on his shoulder. Eddie sat up quickly, a frantic look on his face as he grabbed Chim by the biceps and said something Buck wouldn’t be able to hear even if he were right next to them. Chimney’s eyes landed on Buck and he grinned, raising a finger to point in his direction. The moment their eyes met, the panic on Eddie’s face instantly morphed into relief.

And then Buck was moving, crossing the yard as fast as his shaking legs would carry him. As soon as he crashed to his knees Buck had his good arm around Eddie. His trembling finally stilled when Eddie slipped his arms around Buck’s waist, pulling him down off his knees and into Eddie’s lap. Buck’s sobs melted into giggles at the move as he clung onto Eddie for dear life. Neither man kept track of how long they sat like that before Buck pulled away, just enough for them to be able to look at each other.

And now, Buck’s world was reduced to one person. Eddie, breathing, tears in his brown eyes and a smile on his perfect lips. They didn’t say a word, but neither of them needed to. Touching foreheads, breathing each other’s air, both of them got caught somewhere between laughing and sobbing as they clung to one another.


End file.
